'I think Messi is better' - When Real Madrid allegedly forced Magnus Carlsen to name Cristiano Ronaldo as his favourite footballer

Magnus Carlsen recently congratulated Real Madrid after their win over Man City in the UCL.

Real Madrid allegedly once forced five-time World Chess Champion Magnus Carlsen to name Portuguese attacker Cristiano Ronaldo as his favourite player.

Magnus Carlsen is a huge football fan, and he has also witnessed a lot of Real Madrid games at Santiago Bernabeu. However, the chess grandmaster thinks that former Barcelona forward Lionel Messi is a step ahead of former Los Blancos talisman Cristiano Ronaldo.

During an interview with Youtuber Lex Friedman, the Norwegian chess legend said, “I’ve always liked Ronaldo, but I think Messi is better given his all-round game.”

Later on, he also revealed that he was allegedly once asked to name Ronaldo as his favourite footballer by the La Liga Giants. Magnus Carlsen stated that he has attended Madrid’s games in the past, and the 14-time UCL champions have always been kind to him. However, once they recorded an interview with Carlsen, where they allegedly asked him to name his favourite football player.

Replying to the question, Magnus Carlsen took the name of Spanish midfielder Isco. Interestingly, he was then allegedly told by the staff to name Ronaldo as his favourite. Carlsen recalled:

“I have been to quite a few Real Madrid matches, and they have always been very accommodating. The only thing is, somehow they were going to record an interview and asked who was my favourite footballer. I think I called Isco back then.”

Magnus Carlsen added, “Then it was something like, ‘Okay, take two. Now you say: Ronaldo’. So it was very important to them, but it wasn’t that big of a deal to me.”

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The 33-year-old recently took to X (formerly Twitter) and expressed his support for Carlo Ancelotti’s Real Madrid during their UEFA Champions League quarterfinal match against Manchester City. After a 3-3 draw in the first leg, Los Blancos defeated Manchester City 4-3 on penalties in the second leg after the scores were levelled at 1-1 at full-time.

He wrote, “You gotta win to win. Hala Madrid”.

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